The Gentle Shepherd Counseling Center

Gentle Shepherd was founded in 1997, by Maureen Cooper and David McWilliams, to fill the need in the Northeast Ohio region for a comprehensive Christian based counseling center.

We acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Shepherd, and strive to serve Him in enabling all who come to us to clearly hear His voice, to follow Him in paths of righteousness, and to enjoy the abundant life which is God's will for each of us. Gentle Shepherd is not affiliated with any religious organization or denomination.

Welcome to our monthly feature! Each month we focus on a topic or issue affecting the well-being of individuals and families. Our current feature includes two articles about counseling from Q Ideas for the common good at www.qideas.org.

Almost thirty years ago, a local woman who had dedicated her life to prayer ministry started driving by “our corner” during her daily commute. She made it a practice to pray while she was driving, and soon she felt the Lord telling her to drive into the parking lot to pray. As she listened to Him, He told her that He was going to establish an important ministry on that spot and He wanted her to pray for it. She obeyed.

I was a young wife busy starting a family at that time; I never even dreamed of being a counselor. But twenty years and many paths later as I drove by that corner and saw an “Office Space for Lease” sign on one of the houses, my heart jumped at the prospect of establishing a counseling practice there.

That was 15 years ago now. The lady who prayed told her story to one of our counselors whom she met at a local health fair. It humbles us to know that God had this planned long before we did.

In our time here, we have seen more than 5,000 clients, for a total of over 60,000 hours of counseling. We know we have made a positive difference in many lives in many ways. We have been able to purchase both houses and expand the number of counselors who work here. We have built good relationships with many churches and doctors who refer to us, and we are continually working at getting to know even more.

What makes Gentle Shepherd different is that each counselor is deeply grounded in his or her faith and uses that lens as well as superb clinical knowledge and skills in the treatment of each person who comes to us. We also believe our home-like environment is important for the comfort and healing of our clients and makes us unique. It has been a calling, not just a business for us. We know that what happens here is bigger than we are: it was planned and orchestrated before we even thought of it, and now we get to enjoy and love each person God sends to us.